Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna

Tonight we had a guest chef:  Marie Callender.  Tonight was a lazy dinner night.  Actually, I bought this for last night and it ended up being too late to cook it by the time I got home.  

I would have never tried this before I married Steve... but he forces me to try new foods.  So I saw this and it looked much better than the basic lasagna that I had in my cart.  This was delicious and George couldn't get enough of it!  If I was even 2 seconds between bites he would yell, "ma ma ma ma" which must be baby babble for "more!" because he definitely doesn't call me "mama" yet.

This will probably become a lazy dinner staple at our house.

What I'm Reading

I found this blog on Pinterest.  Don't you just love Pinterest?  This lady has a great list of snacks, lunches and dinners for toddlers.  Then, from a comment on that blog, I found this blog.  This lady has a great guide on what she includes in each meal to make sure her toddler gets a nutritionally balanced meal.  I try to remember, though, that Dr. Sears says that we should be aiming for a nutritionally balanced week... because toddlers are weird little beings and won't always eat everything that we offer to them in a given day.

(My weird little creature playing peek-a-boo with his bowl.)

Grilled Cheese with Sweet Potatoes

• 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 c sweet potato puree
• 1/8 c spinach puree
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 slices whole wheat bread
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 tsp olive oil

1. In a medium bowl, mix the cheese, veggies, butter and salt.  Spread two slices of the bread with the cheese mixture and top with the other two slices.
2. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium heat.  When the skillet is hot, add the oil.  Put the sandwiches in the pan and spray the tops with cooking spray.  Cook 4-5 minutes per side, unitl the bread is crisp and the filling is melted.

Recipe adapted from Deceptively Delicious.  I added spinach for a little green veggie and iron.  This made the filling a yellow-green color.  Kids that know what grilled cheese looks like might not like that, but George didn't know the difference.

Black Bean Quesadillas

I opened a can of black beans for the veggie patties and had a little left over.  So, I pureed them up and put them into a quesadilla.  Once again, it was a hit.

• Fajita-Sized tortillas (16 for 98 cents at Walmart)
• Black Bean puree
• Cheddar Cheese, shredded
• Nonstick cooking spray

1. Spray pan, heat over medium heat
2. Take 1 fajita-sized tortilla, spread black beans on one half and shredded cheddar cheese on the other.  Fold in half.
3. Cook until lightly browned on one side.
4. Flip and cook until lightly browned.

George ate about 3/4 of it for lunch with milk & pears & butternut squash (baby food).  He ate the other 1/4 of it for his afternoon snack... along with some Gerber toddler cookies.

Black Bean & Veggie Patties

We took a family drive that ended up at Costco a few weeks ago.  It was almost George's snack time, so we gave him a few of the samples.  I was shocked when he downed the veggie patty sample!  My child?? Voluntarily eating vegetables??  I just had to give it a try at home.  I found a recipe at Happy Green Babies and cooked it up.  They don't look pretty, but George loved them.  The great thing is that this recipe makes 8-10 (mine made 16 because I made them chicken-nugget sized).  He eats 4 at a time.  I froze the rest and just pop them in the microwave for about a minute when I want to serve them.

The Recipe:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, shredded
• 1 large carrot, shredded
• 1 small zucchini, shredded
• 1 small yellow squash, shredded
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 2/3 c flour (whole wheat preferred)
• 1 c black beans, pureed
• 2 tbsp tahini (I couldn't find this at the grocery store, so I skipped it)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp honey (I skipped this because G can't have honey yet)
• 1 egg, beaten
• water for thickening

1. Heat veggies in 1 T of olive oil over medium heat until soft.
2. In a bowl, combine flour and beans.
3. Add veggies and remaining ingredients.
4. Blend well.
5. Add just enough water to make a thick batter (like pancake batter)
6. Pour remaining tbsp of oil in pan.
7. Make 3" wide cakes, turning with spatula until lightly browned

Be patient--these take a while to brown.  They're pretty good (I think) and George thinks they are delish!  Served with whole milk and fruit (or applesauce).

Also, be careful--I got a nasty little splinter while I was shredding the zucchini (from the stem)!  It took 2 days before I could get that out!

Pork Chops and Pasta with Broccoli Pesto

Talk about an unlikely success!  Tonight I made dinner based on what sounded good to me.  I figured there was no way that George would eat it, but I knew I could always make him a second meal.  I fed him a few bites of pasta... and he actually swallowed them!  And wanted more!  Then I fed him some pork chop and he not only loved it, but wanted to feed himself!  I couldn't get it on his tray fast enough!  The best thing was that he didn't even know that he was eating broccoli!  So this was a success all around.

Pork Chops:  Seasoned with Grub Rub and grilled on the George Foreman grill.  Grub Rub is just about my favorite thing in the world.  It's seasoning and meat tenderizer and it is delicious on everything.  It's a Texas thing, but I was just looking on their website and it looks like it's sold in about 16 states... and online.  It's expensive online, so I'm probably going to have to live in one of those 16 states forever.

Pasta with Broccoli Pesto:

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 bunch broccoli, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 10oz short pasta (I used mini-fusilli by Barilla)
• 5 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 oz Parmesan finely grated (plus more for serving)
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest plus 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 c packed fresh parsley leaves (I used 8 tsp dried parsley)
• 1/2 small garlic clove
• (recipe calls for but I didn't use) 1 can (15.5oz) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1. Cook pasta according to directions.  Reserve 2 c pasta water.  Return to pot.  Boil broccoli 4-5 minutes or until tender (next time, I will steam it).
2. Add:  oil, parmesan, lemon zest and juice, parsley and garlic to food processor.  Puree until smooth (about 2 minutes).  Transfer pesto to pot with pasta.  Stir to coat, adding enough of the reserved pasta water to make it creamy.
3. (Optional)  Add in beans --over medium heat until warmed.  Serve with salt and pepper and extra parmesan. 

Spicing it Up!

I cook and eat a lot of chicken.  It's even a joke with one of my friends.  Whatever!  It's easy!  And dependable!  And versatile!  And also a little bland... 

Yes, I like bland food.  Seriously.  Like I would fit right in in Great Britain where food has zero taste. 

Well, George must take after his father... because last week he tried enchiladas.  I was worried that he might not like it, but he kept reaching for my fork, so I gave him a bite!  I seriously couldn't shovel it into his mouth fast enough!  He loves enchiladas!

So my discovery is that maybe I need to spice up some of George's food.  Maybe (sometimes) the problem isn't my picky toddler... but my bland food.  So I'm working on spicing things up.

In other news:  Our "throwing food on the floor" problem has been temporarily solved.  George just doesn't like to feed himself--especially if he doesn't know if he's going to like it.  So, when introducing new foods (or if he starts throwing), I feed him... and he usually eats it up!  We still have a sippy-cup-throwing problem.  More on that when I figure out how to get him to drink it more than once before throwing it.

Crispy Tuna Bites

We've talked about my internet research lately, right?  Well, in my frustrated, desperate search to find something... anything... George will eat, I stumbled upon this recipe.  I changed it up a bit, added a few things, left a few things out, and it turned out delicious.  And George actually picked one up and picked at it for a few minutes.  I think some of the pieces may have actually made it into his stomach.  That's a big accomplishment these days.

• 7oz can of tuna
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp Parsley
• 3/4 c. bread crumbs (I used Panko because it's all we had)
• Canola Oil cooking spray
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• One heaping pinch of shredded cheese (I used Italian 5 Cheese)
• One heaping pinch of finely chopped spinach (I chopped in the food processor)

1. Mix together tuna, egg, parsley, bread crumbs, garlic powder, cheese and spinach.  Mix well
2. Line your cooking sheet with foil and give it a generous spray of canola oil cooking spray
3. Form your tuna mixture into balls
4. Spray them lightly with canola oil cooking spray
5. Refrigerate for 5 minutes
6. Bake 15 minutes @ 375 degrees (I sprayed them with the spray again about 8 minutes into the cooking time.)

What I'm Reading

I've done a lot of Googling tonight.  Mostly "feeding a picky eater."  (George throws food and tonight practically boycotted everything but bread).  I've read a lot of things that weren't too helpful... but "Feeding the Picky Eater: 17 Steps" by Dr. Sears is a pretty good one.  It's aimed toward older toddlers, but there are some things that I can use now, and some I will definitely use in the coming months!